Just In: "The Truth About Wolves in the West"

I was just reading the Shoshone Wilderness Adventures catalogue, and came across this very interesting quote (the swearwords are their's also):

"THE TRUTH ABOUT WOLVES IN THE WEST
In the August '04 issue of Petersen's Hunting Wyoming Game & Fish Chief Jay Lawson says his state's "generally stable elk hunting should pay big divididends this fall". This is a classic example of the absolute ******** that comes from some state's game departments, anxious to sell their hunting licenses. The fact is, wolves have decimated the once healthy elk herds in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Outfitters are afraid to say anything for fear they won't sell their hunts. In my opinion, the introduction of wolves has produced the greatest wildlife tragedy since we nearly wiped out the American Bison 130 years ago. The moose are gone, the elk are down 60-75%, and there is no relief in sight. The winter refuges are scattered with half-eated carcasses of six point bulls. There is virtually no calf survival. There are dozens of outfitters in this area for sale. It's a very grim picture. Wolves are the greatest tool the anti-hunters have every found. Please support any legislation that proposes the controlled hunting of these magnificent predators. It's not the wolves fault, it's our fault. The wolves are just being wolves. They must be controlled. Even with immediate hunting, the sad truth is, it will be decades before the wildlife in this region recovers."

This is very interesting, because my outfitter told me on my recent failed elk hunt to Montana (I was just outside of Yellowstone) that last year the DNR did an hellicopter survey of just the local area where I was and they counted 78 wolves, that they could find, Lord knows how many more they couldn't find.

Very sad but true. Have a friend in the Idaho Fish & Game. Our largest herd of elk in Idaho is experiencing an 60 - 70 % kill of cows and calves in some areas. Hard to maintain and keep herds going with these high kill ratios. When hunting now, you see wolves moving during the day in broad daylight. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

So you get a feel for where I am... my property boarders the eastern edge of the Shoshone National Forest. I am 30 miles from the east enterance of Yellowstone.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>It's not the wolves fault, it's our fault. The wolves are just being wolves. They must be controlled. Even with immediate hunting, the sad truth is, it will be decades before the wildlife in this region recovers."
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

AMEN....

The anti's with Clinton's help put this very well thought out plan into effect. The Gov't spent millions or the research of how many wolves "the park" would hold.. of course their study found that they could introduce more... Lets think about this...

you add a few breeding pairs into a place which essentially is an all you can eat smorgasboard... kinda like introducing mold or bacteria into a warm damp place.. think it will grow??? Think you can contain it?
thats what they told us.. "the wolves won't leave that park... they are needed to control the populations in the park.." well no ****.. what happens when the decimate the population in the park? Well.. they venture out... AND THEY HAVE! They are depleating the herds to an almost unrecoverable point. the plan is .. WHEN THERE ARE NO ANIMALS TO HUNT THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO OWN FIREARMS!!! BELIEVE IT!! IT IS TRUE!

Now that being said... I sound like any rancher or farmer who has lost a multiple generation owned ranch.. and believe me there are life long ranching families loosing their livelyhood everyday.. I know I see it.. those assholes in that big white house in the east won't come out here to actually see what they have done... they don't have the guts... they can't stomach the truth... they don't want see the magnificent wolf ( and they are ) killing for sport... they don't want to see a pack of wolves tear into fluffy white sheep... they don't want to see the wolves tear into a week old calf.... or a just born, wobbly, so ugly it is cute, calf moose... they are afraid to see those graphic pictures.. BUT YOU BETTER BELIVE WE SEE IT EVERYDAY!!!! I own and opperate a guest ranch and one of the highlights is the abundance of wildlife we see on our trailrides... at least we used to... I normally would have 40-70 deer in my pasture today, most of you know I have posted thes pictures of the deer on my hay.. in the bed of my pickup... well not any more... the populations are amazinly thin... we ride on over 5 square miles typically and on a daily basis.. let me just say that there are mile long meadows on the moutain tops with knee high grass.. thats right knee high grass... why.... there are no Elk or deer to graze on it....
For any of you who have ever given to any kind of funding to a wildlife or ecological society better check to see what they did with your money....

Here's and interesting thing that I bet none of you east of here, or west of here, for that matter have ever heard....
NOW THIS IS FACTUAL!!! It is a case in court as we speak...

THe wolves are so bad and so thick that game and fish are trapping them and MOVING THEM from the park... yes that's right moving them.. transporting them to other areas of this state and others... they are accelerating the natural movement of these wolves there are wolves in Utah for the first time in over 117 years!! WELL guess what our game and fish got caught doing... they were caught red handed ( on film ) attempting to release 3 wolves onto a ranchers property... that in itself is bad enough but the real kicker is that they were trying to turn these wolves loose in this ranchers calving pasture... oh yeah, and by the way it was right in the middle of the calving season...

NOw I am ranting.. but justifiably so... most of you don't deal with these problems, we raise horses... we have foals every year... our horses are considered pets legally. So if wolves were to ever walk into our pastures and kill one of our foals .. WE WOULD GET NO rembursment... NONE! even though we are assured that the wolves won't ever get this far... did I mention that the ranchers property is 80 miles from the park and 30 miles east of me... so at the very least that puts me with wolves on both sides... AND we have picutes of wolf prints on the pathway of our cabins... AND my neighbors dog was attacked by 3 wolves and his nieghbor had his dog killed by the same 3 wolves... we hear them howling on a weekly basis.... all this, after a few years ago we were told, they would never leave the park....

again, I am ranting... because most of you have no idea what has been done to the northwest .. all of you who have hopes and aspirations of hunting out here... better do it real soon... we need at least 30% of the ELK herd population to be calves to have a normal carry over to insure the population remains strong... so that is 30 calves in every 100 ELk... we have a local herd that winter in our pastures across the road ... there are about 60-80 head in that herd.. we had 4 calves last year..not 40 but only 4...

I am not one of these guys who says kill all the wolves... there is a definite need for them... but not the numbers we actually have.. we need to have a controlled hunting season... what has happened in just the past 2 years is absolutly amazing... they are incredible , magnificient creatures but they are very efficient killers too...

we need to find solutions quickly, but then again we are dealing with our government.. and nothing happens quickly... I am afraid to admit it but your dreams of the big Elk hunt out west are quickly fading...

thanks for letting me rant.....

I may even delete this after I re-read it.. but it is all factual... sad but true....

Thanks, Ric. We have seen the same thing in the Salmon River area of Idaho where I hunt. Three years ago we photographed wolf tracks and showed them to the Fish and Game and were told that they were dog tracks! Sad, Sad

Oh.. I forgot.... this is good... my neighbor.. photographs these wolves just off his back porch...( 2 greys and 1 black ) and take this photo to game and fish and asks them to identify and explain, why? They told him... those are Coyotes... when my neighbor argued they are not coyotes.. game and fish got aggressive and angry with his unwillingness to believe them.... and .. get this... they asked my neighbor how he is so sure they are wolves and not coyotes...